The enemy of my enemy
by Epselion
Summary: The Chitauri must die if Loki ever wants to be free from them again. But who can he count on to help him build the weapon to destroy them? Family? His knowledge? Or perhaps an enemy from the past? Sequel to Mending Broken bonds.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A matter of importance.

As the doors to the throne-room opened it broke the heavy silence inside. Odin's eye immediately focused on his wife as she approached. He was quite keen to hear her news, the way Thor had come in to retrieve her had been quite panicked. Something had been severely wrong. From the way his shining queen was also pale he figured that it was as bad as Thor had made appear. He wished to be let onto this.

"My love…" he spoke when she grabbed his hand, fingers trembling. "Speak to me about what has become of Thor's urgent matter."

She inclined her head and stood tall, straightening her back.

"It has been taken care of. It was about Loki…" she paused to think on how to continue this explanation.

"Is our son in good health?" he asked worried.

She shook her head silently.

"It's better now. The Chitauri have attacked him. The wounds were rather vicious and deep."

Fregga paled at the thoughts of it again.

"He was attacked? Here in Asgard? Right under our noses?" Odin hissed lowly, his anger hardly contained, the guts of these creatures. "How has Heimdall not seen? How come not a guard has noticed, or my ravens told me?" he stood. "Where are these culprits?"

Fregga looked at her sleeve, the edge of it was stained red. She folded it under her hand, out of sight, out of mind.

"Thousands of light-years away from here, somewhere in the branches of Yggdrasil. No man has seen because they were never here. They practice dark magic, they took Loki's soul, not his body. But his wounds are real my love, the blood was real, and the pain was very much real too."

Red seeped into Odin's cheeks, he was infuriated. Not a man had the right to hurt his son, nor did a single monster. They would regret this, so he swore.

"For what? For being defeated on Midgard? Do they know no end?"

Fregga looked tired, shaken. It made his face harden even more, that meant it had been quite severe. He had only seen her like this when Loki had been shot with that arrow ages ago, so drained. This meant war, wherever they were hiding they would be crushed by Asgard.

"No, it is not. Loki has tried to explain… but I think he should do so himself to you as well. I understand little of this all."

"Is he in shape for such a thing?"

"He insisted."

Fregga gestured to the guards to let their sons in as well. Thor walked in, but the usual strength and cheerfulness had left him for the moment. He was as pale and shaken as his mother was, evidence of cleaning away blood was still everywhere, a crisp clean tunic, and cleaner hands than Thor ever had. But still there was copper red under his nails. He acknowledged his father with a nod and Odin greeted him back. Not as a king, this was family business. Loki trailed behind, his gaze on the floor to keep his focus. He looked sick and scared, and the way he walked told Odin he was still quite far from alright, the slight wobble in his moves, being unable to walk in pretty much a straight line. Thor noticed too and waited him up, holding his shoulder to walk the last bit. Odin immediately noticed the area that had been attacked. His arm was bulged under the sleeve of his left arm, a bandage from shoulder to elbow. A warning injury, painful but unrestricting enough to get something done. They had been demanding. Loki gave his father a quick nod.

"Father."

He looked bad, his eyes still hollow and his features still skinny from staying on Jotunheim for that long a time. But at least he was now getting better. Close of the palace made up for a lot, he had gotten a glimpse of what he had come here in. But his pride was still quite shattered, it could be read from his stance, tired and timid, so unlike the son he had raised. Loki flinched and looked away, mistaking his father's worried look-over for a judging one. Odin softened his face and instead smiled to his family.

"It's good to see both my sons again with the same eye. It makes a father happy to know that all is forgiven."

"All is not forgiven!" Loki's voice was suddenly very loud.

That was still quite a sore subject then. Loki sighed and proceeded with a more calmed voice.

"There's just a lot to forget…. And I have not forgotten all of it."

Thor's shoulders slumped a bit, clearly disappointed.

"But these past few days we were so well. I thought we were brothers again…"

Loki chewed on his lip.

"I told you it would need time. We spent ages wherein I really resented you. I can't just throw that past out and pretend it never existed. I've been home for only three days, and there's a lot I had to deal with already." He didn't know why he felt like he had to defend this. Three days was nothing compared to centuries, Thor could maybe make such an easy turn, but he sure could not.

"At least I am willing to work it out… That should be enough."

Thor nodded slowly. A silence fell and Odin suddenly regretted saying such a thing. Fregga eventually took up the task of breaking the silence.

"You and Thor can work out whatever in your own ways, why don't you tell father what you came for." She knew Loki was stalling from it on purpose. Loki plucked on the edges of his vest.

"I need your help, to build another Tesseract."

The statement was clear, a single line that asked for many explanations. But Loki did not elaborate. Just the one statement, not even a question. Like he had made up his mind, calculated that Odin had to jump in, it was only his call to grant that help or not.

"Do you even know what you ask boy?"

He sat back on the throne again, contemplating what this would be about.

"I'm not asking."

"Why would you even want another Tesseract? If you need it for whatever shady reason, why not use the actual Tesseract?"

"Not me, the Chitauri. They want the Tesseract. They will not relent in their persuasions until I bring it to them. It's why I could so suddenly be reunited with all of you. I am to retrieve it from Asgard." He looked at Odin more intently. "You of all have seen what they can do, not doing so is simply not an option. They will not stop."

His son's hand moved to touch his elbow subconsciously.

"If we do nothing, they will have it."

Odin listened, things made a little more sense now, if only just a little. Something had to be done, he agreed. And Loki had a plan, he never acted if he had no plan. He just could not see it yet.

"If we give them a weapon like the Tesseract, even if it is only a copy… The damage they will do is not to be overseen. Realms will fall, even our own actual Tesseract might not protect us. Such a risk cannot be taken."

"That's why I'm not taking it." Loki answered. "We need to build a copy because it needs to be able to do something the real one cannot."

Odin furrowed his brow.

"And what would that be?"

"Self-destruct."

And suddenly Odin got the picture. Loki wanted to destroy them by bringing them their gift, laced with a parting gift.

"It will wipe them out, every last one of them. Only then will they leave me alone."

Odin shook his head.

"And how did you wish to accomplish this? The Tesseract is ancient magic. Older than even the fundaments of Asgard itself. Made by the first Jotun sorcerers. They were the strongest our Realms have known, no mage since could even hope to become as strong as one. The Jotun haven't had a mage since."

"I am a jotun mage." Loki stated, crossing his arms. "I have read of their mages. The ringed moon of Jotunheim has an effect on a pregnant jotun, it drenches the baby she carries in its radiation. The longer it remains exposed to the ringed moon the smaller it is upon birth. But the radiation is what makes a jotun capable of magic."

He looked at his own fingers.

"The first mages, they were about my size. Which means that I too can accomplish this, but I need help. The ringed moon stood close to the realm of frost giants before I was born. I can summon these spells if only I knew how."

"I cannot help you. The legends may still live, but the nature magic of the jotun is long forgotten. The frost giants do not know them anymore, nor does any creature alive."

Loki felt his stomach coil.

"There has to be a record! There has to be! How else could they have told their kin of their magic! It cannot be gone!"

Because if it was then there was no hope left. No Tesseract, no bomb, no release.

"Think boy! The jotun murder all runts of their people, they care not for mages. Magic takes too long to develop it has no use to the frost giants. Why else would they kill them all? There is no legacy, no record, only the Tesseract."

And yes, that made sense, but if Loki admitted it true to himself then, what would his future be? Blood, pain, insanity. Thor knew he didn't have too much wit to rely on but this he was pretty certain about, so he spoke up.

"I know of people that already have reproduced parts of the Tesseract. They never made a second cube, but the essence they managed to copy."

Loki turned to his brother, hopeful. Odin snorted, he couldn't really believe anybody would be able to outdo Asgard in its capabilities.

"Allies of ours?" Loki asked, desperate for at least a hold-on.

"Yes brother… The humans have."

Loki's face dropped.

"The mortals? Your Midgardian friends?"

Thor nodded, he didn't really see the problem, this was great news was it not?

"There was a moment on that ship of the people with shields. They were arguing because there were weapons being made with the power of the Tesseract. Clearly that had not been shared with the rest. They wanted to use at as a power-source. They can help!"

"People with shields?" Loki repeated.

"Yes, the men in those fancy black suits who actually do not carry any shields… Mystifying…"

Loki shook his head.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is an abbreviation. The name of their department." He really did not like his chances here. "But you say they had made copies, and that they had made weapons of it?"

"Yes, or… maybe. They just managed to extract energy from the Tesseract for these weapons. But the effect was very impressive according to the Captain. He said that one man had once done this. He said it had been a horrible slaughter, men vaporized into non-existence."

Loki nodded slowly, it sounded like it could work if he were to be included to look at things with the Asgardian knowledge. If only they weren't talking about the humans here, anyone else he could have probably swayed the right way.

"Brother, they will give us a hand with this if I were to ask them to. The Avengers are my friends. They trust me."

"That would not happen in a million years! The Avengers are YOUR friends, they are MY enemies. Or at least I'm theirs. Possibly the worst they have. They would not help me. Nor would they trust you about me, because I'm a trickster and could have manipulated you."

He groaned. Did he have actual other chances? Not really.

Thor shook his head.

"Man of Iron likes you. He said so himself. That you were his favourite enemy, for he hadn't ever met one so much like him."

Loki glared at his brother.

"I threw the man out of his window to die. Which would have worked if it weren't for that damned suit. He does not 'like' me. Thor, none of them do. I am a threat, they will not assist me in building a weapon for mass-destruction."

It fell silent again around them. Loki's head tried to tell him things that would avoid having to call in the humans. If he looked hard enough he could maybe find back the old spells, maybe they were still somewhere on Jotunheim. With Thor on his side he could travel through the wastelands rather safely. Maybe others had just failed to see it. But how long would it take to find it? He only had a month, and then of course, he still had to make it. Casting so many spells in one month… His mother told him what he actually already knew.

"I think the Midgardians are your only hope Loki…"

He knew that, but he hated confirming it. He nodded slowly.

"Come on brother, you are smart with your words. I'm sure you can talk your way into their trust."

"I'm pretty sure they won't let me." he countered.

"We have a common enemy, we will fight like allies against them, the humans would benefit from it too."

Loki started to weigh the possibilities in his mind. The clear advantage was of course the much more secure chance to build this Tesseract. The disadvantage, that he was not allowed to stay at Thor's side this time, that he could be killed by them. But those things seemed unlikely with Thor around. He would not let it get that far right? He grunted.

"Fine, but if they kill me know that it's on you."

Thor smirked victoriously.

"I think we all know by now that nothing can kill you brother…"

"Don't challenge fate Thor."

Loki looked, softly said, not amused at all. This weighed heavy on him. Thor knew he hated calculating in risks. He knew how his little brother liked an airtight plan that could only work out how he wanted. After all, look where previous risks had brought him so far.

"Man of iron did still owe you a drink is that not so?"

Loki sighed.

"Yes, but I still owe him half a tower… If we're going to think in debts."

"Not so sour brother. The humans have a saying on earth. It applies perfectly. It states; the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Is that not perfect?"

"It's nonsense." Loki fired back. "Why would having an enemy in common make people friends?"

"Because it takes proper teamwork to defeat a common enemy, you cannot do so when there is hate within your ranks." Thor knew Loki was just looking for bad things now.

"Fine, fine… I'm not even going to try and talk this through with you."

He waved Thor away. He looked at Fregga and his brother.

"I would like to speak to father alone for a moment…"

They understood and left, the doors again letting out a mighty groan as they were shut behind them.

"If you are not helping on the creation of my plan I do have yet another favour to ask of you father."

Odin sat up straight again. He had not meddled with Thor's proposition, had let Loki deal with the risks. This was for once, not his deal. The Chitauri were not from the Nine Realms. They were not accountable for Asgard's laws. They were rogue. But if Loki would ask his alliance he would see what he could do.

"I will have to put a lot of magic in this work still, to help the humans make this. I need you to keep us shrouded. Me and Thor. They cannot see what I am doing, they have no strength for that. But they can locate me. If they know I'm on Midgard, or Thor, there will be suspicions."

"You want me to mislead them? To make it as if you never left this place?"

Loki nodded. His father understood what was important.

"Especially for Thor… If he gets tangled up in what I have felt I would not forgive myself."

He turned away to leave. Odin smiled at that. Loki did care for his brother still. That made him happy. Proud.

"I will do as you ask boy. But there is now something I will ask of you as well. I know you are short on time. So you may go tomorrow morning when dawn breaks. I do however demand then, that tonight you will celebrate your return to our family and claim that place back in front of all of Asgard."

Loki stopped, his back still turned on his father as he let out a heavy sigh. No, no, no… he didn't want that. But he knew finality in his father's voice when he heard it.

"Is it not enough to be received hostile once? I must endure it here first, and then I can move on to Midgard to go through exactly the same?"

"The people of Asgard will be glad to see you return."

Loki turned around.

"Are you really that blind? We both know they would rather have my head, of Thor I understand such ignorance, but of you…"

"It is your duty as a prince, to reclaim your place, it will only be acknowledged if the people get to see it for themselves."

Odin could see the denial playing in Loki's head over and over. There had been quite a few days that he had been unable to read his own son. But this was just about screaming from him.

"And they will be happy if I tell them to be."

Loki smiled faintly before his face went back to that slightly desperate, defeated look again.

"Fine, I'll attend. But do not expect of me to linger long. An hour, no more."

"An hour will suffice." Odin agreed, willing to make that compromise.

Loki gave him a curt nod and strode away. His arm was starting to pulse again. He would need to rest it. He just needed a moment of peace and quiet. Tonight all hell would break loose, he was fairly sure that something would happen. How could he expect things to go smoothly? He knew how the people of Asgard were. He saw Thor and tried to pass by unnoticed.

"Brother! Can we have a small word?"

Attempt failed… He sighed and turned, his smile a little forced.

"If we must…"

"Come brother, it will not be so bad!" Thor was cheerful, happy apparently that he was for once the person that had solved the problem at hand.

He patted Loki's shoulder before remembering that was his bad shoulder.

"Sorry, my bad…"

Loki only rubbed the sore away and followed after his brother.

"I was planning on doing some work for myself Thor…" he tried.

"That's fine, we will just talk in your room then."

Failed again. Thor sucked at hints sometimes. He let his brother into his room and put away the bloody towel at his bedside. The sheets had already gone. Probably taken away by his mother or the handmaidens. Thor fell down on his bed with a sigh.

"I do hope you are not angry with me… For suggesting the humans."

Loki shook his head. He wasn't, he was just bummed that it was the actual truth like this.

"What will we need? To build the Tesseract I mean."

"My cube, some spellbooks, maybe some standard potions that the Midgardians do not have."

His sentences were short and to the point. His mind really wasn't thinking on Thor's words. He had more important things to think of.

"It will be fine brother… They will listen to me, believe me."

"They better." Loki huffed. "If they don't… Then we kissed goodbye our only chances. Father is right. There is no record. If nobody ever found it in all these ages… It's probably not there anymore, or never was. If your humans refuse help, then the Chitauri will push me long enough to bring them the real Tesseract… And only the Norns would know what will become of the Realms when they do."

"Not so gloomy. They will understand. Their Realm will be endangered too."

"I want to believe that Thor, I really do." He sagged down on his bed as well, resting both arms on his knees limply. "It's just that… Everything depends on this. I normally have alternatives, not having those is… horrible… And screwing this one thing up can really make a mess."

He let himself fall on his back. He couldn't stand all this doubt.

"You know, if you just stay the Loki you are now, the one I know from all these ages ago, then nothing can go wrong. I know that for a fact."

Loki nodded and sat up again to take the cube from his nightstand.

"This will also still need a lot of work."

"And you will do it perfectly. You always have, with everything."

Loki looked back to see Thor stretch his muscles with a lazy yawn.

"Father demanded to hold a banquet before we leave. He won't let us go without it."

Thor could hear from the dark undertone in Loki's voice that he really wasn't too happy with that.

"And when do we leave?"

There was plenty of time right?

"Tomorrow." Loki grabbed a leather bag from his closet and put his spellbooks and the cube init.

Thor suddenly sat up straight.

"Tomorrow? But brother, you need to rest still. And you are injured!"

"There will be a banquet tonight, tomorrow we leave at daybreak."

He lifted the pillow and grabbed the notebook and a few phials from his desk.

"But, do you not want some time to recover more, your spells will be better when you're rested, you said so yourself."

"I don't have such time. If I had I would take it. And if all goes well on Midgard then I can take upon rest and recovery there too." He leaned on the desk. "They gave me a month, a month is very short for this much work. That's why the arm is a real setback."

Thor followed Loki with his eyes as he walked across the room to pick up little things.

"And what happens if you don't get it done in time?" he had to ask.

How bad would it get? Would there be a way around it, buy more time if needed? Loki shrugged.

"Nothing good." He picked up a book that had fallen behind the bookcase. "Deadline means they want it quickly, which also means they have plans. Which is both good and bad. Good because it means they really need it and that gives leverage in bargaining. Bad because they'll be on edge and unreasonable when things go wrong. If we happen to be late… I think it won't just be the arm." His eyes darkened.

"So we're in a hurry to keep you in one piece?"

"Me…but you too. Anyone, anyone involved that I care about. I could be the one to hurt you, they can do that."

"I'm sure man of Iron will listen to my reason. He is a good man when you get to know him."

"But it won't go smoothly, you know that."

"Sunshine."

"Realist."

Thor stood up and chuckled.

"You win… That's what you want to hear?"

"Yes."

Loki left the bag on his desk and walked over to Thor.

"Now… go to your room, do something about yourself. You're still unwashed and you are definitely underdressed for one of father's grand feasts. Besides, I want to get some extra work done, possibly causing another explosion."

Thor nodded, he had not gotten to wash and brush properly yet, since he'd gotten up so hastily to check on Loki after that first explosion. He had barely even noticed.

"If I did not have you what would become of me?"

"You managed well enough for some three years."

Thor sighed but smiled as he turned to leave.

"The banquet will also work out just fine."

"Refrain from brushing your teeth any longer and no man would dare come close."

Loki wrinkled his nose. Thor shut his mouth and glared at his little brother.

"Prick."

Loki grinned and held the door open to let Thor out.

Unwilling to be commented on his personal hygiene again Thor immediately returned to his rooms to do the things he'd skipped this morning. He washed himself, brushed his teeth twice just in case, and when he was about to get his clothes sorted out for the evening there was a knock on the door. He didn't stop his current objective but turned around to give the other permission to enter shortly. The door creaked softly and the boots of the other sounded hesitant as they shuffled inside.

"Can we have a word Thor?" Fandral asked when Thor didn't look up from his pile of trousers.

"Can we?" Thor still very much remembered Fandral's judgements about Loki. And he wasn't going to forget about it either.

"I'm sorry about this morning, I truly am. Sif fed us with evil thoughts, she riled us up and that was wrong. I let myself forget that Loki was our friend for centuries, and that you still believe in him tells me you know more about this… I want to understand, but you'll have to answer my questions Thor. How the hell did he become such a monster? Is it gone now? Is it still there? Is he sick? Insane? Possessed maybe?"

Thor stood up and turned to face Fandral.

"You are serious about this?"

Fandral nodded, the look of guilt could not be faked like that.

"Then answers you may have. But only one question at the time, please."

"How by the Norns did he come by that tyrant complex? So suddenly."

Thor sat down on the chair at his own desk, gesturing Fandral to take place somewhere too.

"Ill judgement. We all chose to be blindsided by what was going on inside his head. Our father had told Loki… shocking… news, and he really had trouble coping with that. And while he tried coping…Father fell into Odinsleep, I was banished. So he was king. You know Loki, when he gets uncertain he needs control, more than usual. And what gives more control than power?"

Fandral understood the way it had gone. It sounded like the Loki he knew.

"But this had to have been quite a shocker to go to such extremes… What could possibly be so hard to cope with?"

"You remember Jotunheim?" Loki would kill him for this, he was so keen on nobody knowing.

"Well of course. I got skewered, Volstagg froze like a Popsicle… You had a blast." Fandral grinned.

Thor's lips only quirked up quickly, now was not the time for laughs.

"Well, Volstagg burned from a single touch. But what Loki never said that he got grabbed too. Only, his skin did not burn. It became blue, like a frost-giant's would. When he went searching for answers he used their casket. Until confronting our father about it when he really could not figure it out anymore."

Fandral took it in.

"So… did he figure it out then? Did the Allfather know?"

Thor nodded, reluctant to just put it out there and tell Fandral a secret he had promised Loki to keep.

"Our father decided to tell Loki the truth. He was adopted, from Jotunheim."

Fandral's mouth just fell open with shock.

"He is a Jotun?"

Thor looked away, out the window, radiating silent excuses in his head to Loki.

"Yes. Father found him at the end of last war. He had been abandoned for being small as he is. Too small for their standards."

"By the Norns, your little brother, is a frost giant runt?"

"Don't call him that!"

Fandral raised his hands in defence.

"I meant nothing bad with that… Just, a not so giant frost giant then. Do you even know… was he a peasant or…?" he shrugged.

"The first son of Laufey."

This was so hard to do, he couldn't have imagined how hard this would weigh on him.

"Son of… son of Laufey? Like, king of the frost giants Laufey?"

Thor nodded.

"The one Loki killed with his own hands? Did he even… know then?"

Thor nodded again. Fandral sat baffled.

"First son… That means he is in fact king to Jotunheim now that Laufey is dead… At least the legal heir."

"He wishes no part of that. Knowing completely turned his world upside-down. He just wanted to prove to father that he could be better than the monsters, that he had no ties to them, therefore he wanted to destroy them, make it as if they had never been there. That he was not like the monsters in the children's stories."

Fandral felt so enlightened now.

"The stories… Of course the stories, to grow up thinking frost giants are the worst things to ever meet. And then…"

"Exactly." Thor said gravely.

Fandral stayed where he sat. Trying to give all this new information a place in his head. It stayed silent for minutes. Fandral just soaking in, making ties.

"I am sorry, but there are things I must do." Thor eventually urged.

Fandral snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at Thor.

"No, of course… It's just…" he put a hand on Thor's shoulder. "Thank you for telling me this. This makes so many things so much clearer."

Thor smiled faintly.

"If you happen to come across Loki, keep this to yourself. He wishes for nobody to know this about him. I promised him."

The slighter warrior nodded and opened the door.

"I'll speak with you later… The both of you."

Thor waved at him and didn't answer, knowing that there would be no time for that anyway. The doors fell shut again and Thor packed his own few things. It wasn't much, just the clothes he had borrowed from Jane on earth and one of their standard arc-bows, to sway Tony the right way, a bit of bribing would never hurt. He smiled faintly at the thought before his face became grim again. He could not forget Loki's face from this morning. As he lay there hunched over, fighting of the Chitauri. Those eyes, so frightened, he had known he would be hurting, he had looked so… petrified. And there had been nothing he could do. And yet it still felt like he had not done enough.

"I'm so sorry brother…"

The memory was haunting.

"I'm so sorry…"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: An unfortunate turn of events…

While Loki waited in the backrooms behind the dining-hall he did not know whether to run or stay. He felt so small, his legs so heavy. He vaguely wondered if Thor had felt like he did, on the day of his coronation. Although Thor's occasion had been so joyful, his only terrifying. The fires softly crackled in their places, the flames casting shadows that moved over the walls. His hands were sweaty and he kept wiping them on the sides of his tunic. It was constant, almost subconscious while his mind just raced and raced on. There were so many things that could possibly happen as those doors opened, but in his mind he could only see the bad ones, from riots to a slaughter, and it did not quite calm his nerves, it rather did the opposite. He'd dressed differently for this, purely for extra safety. He'd grabbed his old armour, from when Thor would've been crowned. It offered some safety, made him feel more secure, if only a slight bit.

"Brother…" Thor greeted Loki carefully, he hadn't looked so high-strung in ages. Even though he was clothed Thor could see how tense his back was. And when he came at his side he could read it even more from Loki's face.

"You look as if you were awaiting your trial rather than a feast to celebrate you."

Loki turned his face, his eyes wide and the smile he tried to cast to Thor quivered.

"I am still quite sure that the people will decide to make it a trial."

The leather straps under his armour were pried loose from all his fidgeting.

"You ought to calm Loki, you are making even me nervous."

Loki didn't really react, he just stilled his hands and looked at the floor.

"I used to be so much better than this…" he said. "I could be dying inside and no man would see."

"Well, you are much like what I felt inside that day…"

Thor did not need to name what day.

"I was terrified as much as you are. I for one am kind of happy you are not so closed off to others anymore."

Loki nodded.

"I knew you were nervous on that day, you told me a thousand times that you were not."

"I was scared like a child, I had simply thrown a horrible tantrum in my room and destroyed some training dummies out in the rings… It helped. You should find a way to let go of this tension, you are as firm as a rock." He squeezed his brother's shoulder.

"Throwing a tantrum, how very like you."

He snickered, small talk took his mind of things.

"But yes, I was still very nervous when I stood here, for when those doors would open, my life would change. Nothing would ever be the same and that made me very scared."

"Mine changed… None of this feels familiar." Loki admitted. "The halls, my room, these clothes. It's as if I live an illusion I created for myself, like I got lost in it, forgot that it was only an illusion. But yet there is part of me that knows it's not."

"This is real Loki, you're home. And after the Chitauri are dealt with you will never leave it again."

Thor grabbed a cup of ale and handed it to his brother.

"I think that in fact, you could use a little less real at the moment."

Loki smiled faintly and took the cup, his fingers grabbing it much tighter than needed.

"It is nice though, being home, with all of you once again. But such fortune often comes with its counters. I just hope that tonight will not hold one of those."

"Brother, you have had enough bad things come over you, this is the first good matter in years, it should not need its consideration."

He patted Loki's back.

"We should not linger, Volstagg would finish every plate before long. And gods I'm hungry."

Loki put the cup away, he didn't wish for his senses to be dulled at this night. Thor could tell him a thousand times that all would be well but it would not convince him. Thor wasn't exactly unbiased. He gave Thor a nod. He would have to go through it either way. He was just happy that he could have Thor at his side this time. The doors opened and the golden light of the throne room flooded in, leaving the backrooms bathing in its glow. There were so many people… hundreds. Loki froze in place. Thor gently nudged his side.

"Your eyes might fall out like that brother…" he whispered.

Loki didn't move a muscle. He was petrified. The blond god noticed and grabbed Loki's elbow, dragging him with him until Loki started to walk on his own.

"Nobody would dare hurt you. They would have to go through me first."

"Even you cannot fight of hundreds…"

"Loki don't."

"It's true."

Their conversation was nothing but whispers. But the entire crowd had fallen silent, eyes fixed on the both of them, burning almost. Thor guided Loki to the throne, to join their parents. Fregga looked at him questioningly. Asking without a word if he was feeling better. In turn, Loki smiled faintly and gave her a quick nod.

"You look neat Loki."

He grimaced but kept silent. He could not agree really. The hall was now eerily quiet, as if everyone held their breath, not even a cough or a sneeze. Everyone was awaiting an explanation to this sight. The king and queen and BOTH their sons. Odin stood up, looking over the crowd sternly. Everyone could feel this silence was tense, even Thor, even Odin.

"Tonight we feast, to celebrate the return of our youngest prince and our son, Loki of Asgard. His crimes have been forgiven, his wrongs paid for. I expect the people of Asgard to respect this verdict and share it."

A few mutters started to rise.

"He is now once again your prince, treat him as such or the penalties will be grave."

To conduct his announcement he pounded Grungir to the ground, sending a deep sound through the halls. For a short moment all eyes remained fixed and then came the discussions. People started talking to each other, gesturing, eating in the meantime. Yet, there was still a tenseness to the people. Fregga and Odin took seat at their usual places near the throne and gave each other a quick look.

"Sit with your friends and enjoy yourselves." Fregga tried, giving Thor a sharp eye to tell him to drag Loki along.

Thor nodded and grabbed Loki's elbow again, softly, less urging and protective this time.

"Let us sit with our friends ." he said with a smile.

"Your friends."

"Loki…"

"Sif is still rather hell-bent on murdering me."

"Nonsense little brother. Besides, I am with you. Nothing could overcome you. Sif might be a worthy warrior, but no match for me. Or you."

He reminded Loki. Of course he had the strength, the capability. That didn't mean he would wish for it. Needing to fight now, on the very first evening as royalty again, it would be wrong. He stayed silent instead, knowing Thor was just trying to calm his fears. He was trying so very hard so why would he keep spoiling it? He let Thor drag him to his friends, the Warrior's three and indeed Sif.

"My friends, how very joyous is this occasion? Who would have thought I would have seated my brother beside us again?"

Sif sure wasn't. Her knuckles whitened around her cutlery and she was chewing on the inside of her lip so she would not say what exactly she thought of this. Thor pointed Loki to sit beside Fandral, apparently he decided he was the safest companion. Why so was unknown to Loki. But if Thor thought it best he would not meddle. He said down, not speaking a single word to study this delicate situation first. Thor sat next to Hogun. He and Sif both looked, less pleased, to put it kindly. Sif failed most horribly in pretending she felt unaffected, the way she just about murdered her slice of meat was quite evident of her disapproval. Hogun just gave Thor a nod, not a word. He looked stoic as most times, but his eyes were even more narrowed and he kept his eyes cast at Volstagg instead.

Fandral took up to break the awkward silence.

"We are all happy I'm sure. At least relieved for you. We all have seen how heavy it has weighed on your mind to miss your brother. It has been long since you properly laughed at something."

Sif gave the blond warrior a glare but looked away. This was not like her, she was better than this. Fandral noticed but instead turned to Loki at his right side.

"Welcome back. Really, welcome back. It is a relief to have you here again. Five made such a dull number at times." He nudged him with his elbow. "Do you not agree?"

Loki nodded with a grimace, happy the bandages cushioned Fandral's elbow. Why he was suddenly so… happy, or elevated Loki could not understand. He had heard him yell at Thor outside his room. Really yell. But now it was as if, he was trying to make up for something. He looked at Thor quickly and the sheepish grin told him enough. Fandral knew. Thor had told him, Fandral knew what he was. He glared at Thor, but couldn't bring himself to get angry, because Fandral wasn't disgusted or anything. He looked compassionate. Yes, compassionate would be the word for it.

"Thank you." He said to him.

Sif's nostrils flared with rage about now. He almost wondered if she would maybe hurl her fork at him. But she looked determined not to let it affect her in such a way. Hogun stared at Fandral, he felt betrayed, apparently he was not aware or present when Thor told Fandral about his true nature.

"Come on my friends! Eat!" Volstagg urged, his own plate was stacked as full as he could manage. "Especially you, a draft could blow you away."

He pointed his chicken leg at Loki. Volstagg was hardest to understand. He was acting as if nothing had ever happened. Like he had missed out on the last few years. As if, he chose that time not to exist. He was smiling broadly and by now he had already finished that chicken leg. Sif stood, her face red, it was too much for her so it seemed.

"I hope you choke on it!" she yelled at Loki.

She stabbed her knife into the table and looked at the others with such accusing eyes that they looked away from her.

"Make sure not to walk to your room alone, for I swear to the Norns I'll gut you."

People fell silent to listen to her.

"I will slaughter you like Thor slaughtered hundreds of your kind!"

There was some confused whispering. What 'kind' did she speak of? But Loki knew, and this could only go horribly wrong. She knew. Fandral and Thor exchanged a quick look as well, they were also aware of what she was talking about. Sif straightened her back, happy she got the attention.

"Oh yes people of Asgard. This must be his best lie so far. You see, Loki of Asgard. Is not at all of Asgard to begin with. He is not our prince, he is not our people. He is our enemy. Loki was born Laufeyson. But his father did not wish for him because he was nothing but a runt." She spat her words, looking so triumphant it made Loki feel sick. But this whole situation made him sick. She walked around the table and looked at Loki's horrified face.

"Thor told me himself."

Pleased with the way she had planted that seed of chaos she smirked and strode off, but she would not go far, she would wait, and see what this would bring. It was once again so very quiet. Loki shrunk back a bit, trying to shield himself from those hundreds of burning gazes. Thor almost panicked as Sif accused him. He stood as well.

"I told her no such thing!" he called out. "Brother, I have not said that to her!"

Loki didn't say a word before someone else spoke.

"But is it true?" the voice was demanding and sharp.

"Is he not of our blood?"

"Well look at him! We could have known really. The Aesir have golden hair, the Aesir do not practice such trickery and magic."

Thor felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. This had been what Loki feared for, he had assured him no such thing would happen. He had just about promised. Loki looked at him quickly but then away. He wasn't angry with Thor, but he was uncomfortable.

"We want the truth! The truth!" the people started yelling.

Thor looked towards his parents for some form of help, but they looked just as incredulous as him. He could see his father boiling with anger, but his mother looked so…. Disappointed. In their people. There were screams that shouted murder or treason, monster. Loki growled and stood up, blue as the Jotun were. His eyes were red and it seemed to enhance the rage behind them.

"You are all monsters! All of you! Look at yourselves! Why would it matter that I was born in this skin! I grew up as one of you! I never knew! You are twisted and arrogant for thinking you are above the frost giants! You are no better! Pride is a sin too, we are people too and none of you deserve to call yourself a higher people! I might be a frost giant, but I could kill all of you!"

His skin paled again to his Aesir façade and he ran off. Thor made to follow after him but Fandral held him, shaking his head.

"Let him gather his wits for a moment alone. Later."

"How can they be so cruel?" Thor asked hurt.

He looked towards the doors that fell shut behind Loki.

"You were too, once. Would you not slay all the frost giants?"

Thor did not get to answer. Hogun stood up.

"You are my friend Thor. But this is the last straw." He grabbed a knife from his belt. "I'm with Sif on this."

Thor shook his head. This was not happening, it should not be happening. It was not fair to Loki, he had seen enough, this was home!

"We'll capture him, it's time that the people get a say in this."

"The people will kill him!"

"That is not my problem."

Volstagg put down his food and looked up.

"Loki is our friend!" he said flabbergasted. "He has saved our lives more than once! He fought along our sides. His magic has helped us all. And you decide to go after him now, because… Because he's blue?"

Hogun ran his thumb over the knife in his hand.

"I'll try not to hurt him when we go after him. But the house I serve is the house of Odin. Not that of frost giants."

With that for an explanation he left to catch up with Sif. Thor watched him go. He could not decide if he wanted to pull him back and yell in is face or fight him for this. So he did neither. People started to meddle now as well, standing up and gathering in front of the throne. They started yelling demanding things of their king. The monster had to be captured. Some found he should be cast out to Jotunheim for that was where he was from. But others wanted a price on his head an execution. There were only so few that seemed to remember that Loki was also their prince. None of that had changed. He was still adopted by their father, he was as much a prince of Asgard as Thor was. Fandral drew his sword, giving Thor a sorrowful look. Volstagg joined.

"I think now would be an appropriate moment to go after him." Fandral said. "They'll be coming, he needs to be out of sight, we got this."

Thor gave him a grateful nod and ran after Loki. He could be quite far by now, he was a quick runner and he of course had his magic to rely on. He threw the doors open and looked around. The hallways bathed in a weak warm glow from the fires. At the moment it looked grim and ominous. The hall was perfectly empty and when the golden side-doors fell shut behind him there was almost complete silence. One would not even think there was a riot in there. Which also meant, Thor thought, that Loki did not yet know of the gravity of it. He took a few deep breaths, he could feel his heart pounding with absolute rage. The fire made the silver of his armour shimmer, he looked at it. It was for show, his was, Loki's was, but perhaps tonight it would have to serve its actual purpose. The doors opened again and Thor moved to grab his hammer before he could make out his mother's form. She looked at him, but she did not smile, not now. She looked so torn, so shocked and it took her a short moment to speak.

"Have you found him?" she asked worried.

"No, I meant to look for him just now."

She walked to him and kissed his forehead, letting out a shaky breath. Her fingers rested on the side of his face, trembling against his jawline.

"Find him. Take what you will need and go to Midgard, at once. I fear that Loki is not safe here at the moment, however much it hurts me to say so."

It was true. Loki could not stay. They could run for the plains, the forest. But with a healing arm and his current need for proper food and rest it would not be a good place for Loki to stay in. Besides, people would even follow after them there. But Midgard would be safer, should be safer.

"Tell him I love him, that both his father and I cherish him as much as we do you. And that we will make sure that he can walk back in here loved when the time is right."

Thor nodded, his face grave.

"Now go… You need to hurry. I will make sure you can reach the observatory without trouble."

Thor nodded again and turned away. He ran out the hallway until he reached the galleries, the evening air was cool and yet so silent, barely a sigh of a breeze. Where would Loki have gone? Even in distress his brother was a smart one. He would not have gone to his room. The tower had only one access and he would be cornered for it was the most logical place. They would look for him there. Thor's room was the same. Quite logical, and also a tower. He would not have risked that. But he would want to feel safe somehow, secure. So he would pick a favoured place. Thor knew of a small room in the library, well-hidden but it was hard not to be seen when going there, it was located in the middle of the palace, going in or out of there would be a risk every time. He looked out over the gardens. The stables… He would have passed by here and seen them like Thor did now. He could have sought the company of Sleipnir, his son. It could've offered a good place to hide too. He decided that it was indeed quite possible so he hopped over the low balustrade and started running over the grassy field. He did not wish for anyone to see where he was going, he would lead them right to his brother! He took a quick look over the dark gardens, only the palace-lights and the stable's gave some clarity to look around. But the night was dark, and for now, still quiet. Thor let himself in through the side-door. It was quiet here too, just some horse's breathing or moving, rustling from some hay and straw. The horses did not seem restless. But Sleipnir did. From the other end Thor could already hear him snort and stomp around. Thor looked around to see if there was anybody, but the place was devoid of people. Even the stable-boys had already left for the night. Thor put his hand on Sleipnir's nose before he peeked inside. Loki was not there. He had half expected him to sit pressed against the stable boards. He patted the horse's neck and looked around again, puzzled.

"Loki?" he asked. "Loki are you-"

He found himself unable to finish that sentence as two chains lashed around his ankles and flung him onto the attic, safely into one of the hay-stacks.

"Silent Thor…" Loki whispered.

Thor sat up and sighed, relieved. Loki had driven himself into the far corner, his knees pulled to his chest. His eyes were wide with fright and he looked positively panicked.

"I told you…" he started with a weak voice. "I told you this would happen."

Thor just looked at him for a moment. He looked enraged too, but he knew that he could not do much so there was just a lot of fear in his brother.

"I told you that Sif would find a way to kill me!"

"Do you know what happened in there after you left then?" Thor spoke calmly to ease the atmosphere.

"Yes. Sif and Hogun already passed here. They, like you had figured I would seek out Sleipnir. I only just got up here in time. But Hogun told her that she did not need to worry, because all of Asgard would be after me by now."

His face paled even more as the meaning of that sunk in.

"All of Asgard… I can't dodge all of Asgard."

Thor saw him spiral down farther into panic.

"Hey, not all of Asgard. Not mother, not father. Fandral and Volstagg are with you, Heimdal will let us pass safely. We leave, now. We go to the observatory and travel to Midgard, and the rest will take care of Asgard. Hear me Loki? You will be safe."

Loki shivered but Thor thought he understood. He sat down in front of Loki.

"Can you teleport like this?"

Loki shook his head.

"Hardly… Only myself, maybe, I don't know." His voice wavered."

Thor grabbed Loki's neck, like he used to and held the back of his skull, forcing Loki's gaze up.

"Loki, you will calm down. You will teleport to your room to retrieve those things you packed, and then you will teleport again to the observatory." He spoke slowly and gravely. "You can do that."

Loki's eyes lost some of that wild hunted look and he nodded curtly.

"I can do that." He repeated.

Thor nodded and gave him a soft pat to the shoulder.

"I will meet you there."

He moved to the hatch and looked around below. It was still quiet. He lowered himself and went on his way to make it to the Bifrost himself in the meantime. Loki waited for Thor to leave until he let his magic build a bridge to his room. A portal formed when the bridge was made, like a mirror of green vapour. It was unsteady, it flickered and lost some of its shape. Under normal circumstances he would not travel by it, the force would be too raw. But he had no time and he knew for a fact that he could not do better than this at the moment. He stood up and put his hand out, the moment he as much as touched the surface he was pulled in and just about thrown to the other end. He made it to his room, his shoulder impacting with the window as he was flung out of his bridge. He managed to stay on his feet however. It was still quiet now. So he wasted no time to jerk the drawer out of his desk and grabbed the leather bag. He threw it over his shoulder as he started to hear it. Voices. He thought for a second that he was just hearing things but they became louder and then there were footsteps as well. He turned around quickly and grabbed the box on his desk. His hands shook so bad he could barely pull out the double-bottom and grab the ring in it. He hastily slipped it around his finger. He heard something shatter against the door, glass. He did not think much of it until such a penetrating smell reached his nostrils and a blue smoke started to creep in from the crack under the door. Blue mist. He couldn't breathe that in. He made another bridge, to the observatory. But this time the distance was greater and his focus smaller because the mist came closer. It shook and faltered. He took a deep breath, inhaling a mouthful of the vapour on the floor. It wasn't safe, but this was only going to get worse. He stretched his arm and the pull was so violent he feared he dislocated a shoulder. In the observatory he met the wall harshly before he fell back on his shoulders. Thor almost startled to death as his brother smacked into the wall out of nowhere. It was so fast and violent. He hurried over.

"Loki! Gods, did you break anything?"

Loki shook his head slowly. Thor was vague in his vision, his face blurring at a few places.

"Nothing that hadn't been broken already."

He was glad the pain was numb. But his sleeve started to soak dark again.

"You are-"

"I know, we don't have time… I breathed in blue mist. Everything is fading already."

Thor winced. Blue mist was extremely effective against sorcerers. It corrupted their stream of magic, forcing the body to shut down and fix it. He would be asleep in moments.

"It's fine. I'll take care of everything. When you wake up you'll be safe on Midgard."

Loki snorted but it lacked conviction.

"Safe on Midgard…"

Thor gave Heimdal a quick nod.

"Yes Loki, safe. I promise."

Before Heimdal had put the sword in its lock however, Loki was already unconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

**So, you are all Lucky. So far I Always uploaded on Friday. But this week I was going to be real busy on Friday so you would get the chapter tomorrow or sunday. But I fell down the stairs yesterday. I was Lucky not to break anything, but it hurt like f*ck and I did bruise quite a few things. I pulled some muscles and most of all I'm sore. SO I cancelled my stuff for today and made the chapter instead.**

**This is a chapter completely from Thor's POV... with small looks in the minds of the people he speaks to. Loki is hardly in this chapter, but it still concerns him and this is important so do not skip it. And besides... Thor is cool too. I hope you all like... I'm going to take it easy and hope I'll stop hurting because shiiiiiit it hurts everywhere and I slept so bad becuz every turn I made in my sleep woke me up again with paaaaiiiiinnnnnn... Ugh**

Chapter 3: Among friends.

Thor landed safely on Midgard, nothing but a puff of sand stirred as his feet met solid ground again. The skies were bright, many stars lighting the dark cosmos above. Such a different sight than Thor knew from home. Midgard's night was black. Asgard's sky knew colours of nebula that made the nights look colourful even. This night on Midgard was still young, on the horizon there was still a vague lighter blue of where the sun was disappearing from sight. But this place he knew, the desert. Last encounter with this place had been less than peaceful, to be hit fully by one of Midgard's curious vehicles, cast out by his father. Now it was still quiet, the only light coming from the stars and the small town at the horizon. But this time he was not powerless, this time the trusted weight of Mjolnir hung on his side. He put Loki over his shoulder more securely. He had no trouble holding him, he weighed so little as of late. He had him hanging there like shot wild-game. But it was the easiest way to keep that hurt arm clear of obstruction. His brother only grunted softly, but he was still quite deep under. Thor heard a deep humming, steady but ever getting louder. He turned his head to the direction of the town and saw two of the lights coming much closer, a dust-cloud flying up behind them. Thor smiled and started approaching the van slowly. When it came close he stopped to see it stop with a screech. Mid-stop the backdoors flew open and Jane hung out, her face bright and excited when she saw her suspicions confirmed. She jumped out before the tires actually stood still.

"Thor! It is you!"

"Who else would it be?" he grinned.

She ran to greet him but stopped when she could find out what actual baggage Thor was carrying over his shoulder.

"Is-is that a person Thor?" she asked with a small voice.

Her face immediately took on a expression of deep worry, it reminded Thor of his mother.

"There is no need for concern lady Jane." Thor patted Loki's back. "Loki's injury is not fatal, he is only knocked out for the time being."

He smiled and closed the distance she had stopped at.

"It is so very pleasant to meet you once again."

To his surprise Jane set a few steps back again, startled.

"Loki?" her brow furrowed in confusion. "Why would you take him here?"

Thor sighed and suddenly he felt a tiredness, having to defend Loki again, and again. It was becoming a tiresome business.

"I know there is much to explain, but will you please trust me on this? We had to leave home in a hurry and…" he shrugged, he could not make her help him.

Darcy and Selvig also came out of the car, sliding out from the front seats. Darcy greeted him rather cheerfully but Selvig immediately looked on edge, he already had suspicions. Thor ignored the man's look for a moment, instead returning the odd gesture that Darcy made to him, those two fingers stuck up in a 'v'. But apparently Darcy thought it sufficient because her grin widened.

"Peace Thor." She laughed.

Thor frowned but decided he would have to ask later. He turned his eyes back to Jane.

"I can and will not force you to aide me lady Jane… But I would be grateful if you would."

Darcy and Selvig came to stand with Jane, Darcy's smile had faded and she now looked at her friend in question. Selvig looked quite dark now, grave.

"Loki needs a healer, I will seek out one, all I ask if you will let us stay for the moment."

Selvig looked at Jane but she shrugged to him and he could read from her face that she really did not understand this either.

"You mean a doctor Thor?" Darcy asked, holding open the backdoors of the van. "I mean, he looks like shit honestly."

Jane nodded and walked back to the van as well, her mind made up too. Thor would never do a thing to bring harm, if he brought his brother than there were things going on that she did not yet understand. But she would, she would ask and then all would be clear…

"Are we really helping him?" Selvig stayed, he did not shout or yell, but he was far from amused.

"Thor is our friend, of course we should help." Darcy said, taking Loki's shoulders as Thor lay him down and dragged him in.

"I am not talking about Thor. I'm talking about him." He pointed an accusing finger to Loki. "No offense to you Thor, but that guy is a murderous maniac. He blew up half of New-York."

"Come on Eric, I'm sure Thor can explain it, but he needs help okay?"

Darcy was starting to become more and more dear to Thor. She helped him defend his brother.

"Oh he needs help alright! But I don't think there is a shrink for his kind of crazy."

Jane stayed quiet as she got behind the wheel.

"Later my friend, please."

Selvig's face softened at Thor's almost pleading voice. He looked at the ground and rubbed his face with his hands for a moment, mumbling things to himself.

"Just because it's you." He answered eventually.

He got in next to Jane and decided not to look to the back of the van. The car shook a bit as it started and then they drove again. It was quite dark but Thor could see Darcy tap her fingers against the bench in a rhythm of a song. She looked the least tense to be honest.

"Say… I hate to break it to you. But I don't think that finding a doctor will be easy." She suddenly said.

Thor looked up.

"Are healers scarce on your world? For that 'hospital' you once took me to seemed to hold many."

"Well, he's not really… appreciated on this world you know?"

Selvig snorted at that. Thor looked up, wasn't Selvig a doctor? The other man looked back but shook his head, already understanding what the blond god was thinking.

"Sorry buddy. Doctor is my PHD title, it means I can do science. But I can barely stick a band aid straight."

Thor nodded and frowned. He did not know what to do either. He knew basic things that were important in battle, where to keep pressure to halt the bleeding most effectively. How to angle the limp to stop most of the pain. But this stuff, fractures and those. He only knew not to touch them unless absolutely necessary. He took off the vambrace around Loki's wrist to give the sleeve some space again.

"Mother's healing charm was to mend the bones again. But I fear that the bone has shifted."

Darcy looked up.

"He got this before today?"

"This morning actually. But with the riot… He had to run and everything…"

Darcy and the other exchanged some looks. Riots and attacks, they sure missed out on some background here. Jane suddenly had an epiphany.

"Oh, what about those rocks! Those healing stones you used to save Eric." She looked back to read Thor's expression quickly before turning her eyes on the road again. They were now back in town again, the light of the lanterns came in and lit their faces every now and then.

"We are at war. Our healing stones went with our soldiers. Healing stones are quite rare. They can be mined in little quantities only."

Jane parked the van out front their science labs. They were as Thor remembered, only there was more at the back now, a second part, not made of glass walls but mostly of brick.

"What about Banner?" Darcy said carefully. "He was a doctor in India. He ought to know a thing or two."

Selvig chuckled lowly.

"I would sign for that…"

Thor made a face.

"I do not think that is such a good idea, given their last encounter…"

"I think it's not so bad. If there is one man that knows that looking past flaws is important it would be him. I mean, everyone sees him as the large green man, not as the genius he actually is."

Jane grabbed her keys and opened the doors.

"Whatever you choose though, we had bedrooms built with the cheque from S.H.I.E.L.D. You can let Loki stay there."

She smiled thinly. It felt weird to mention Thor's brother in such a way. Heck, this whole thing felt weird. Loki was with Thor, and Thor she trusted with her life… but it was Loki. A god that was known for his lies and trickery. But Thor should be able to see past that right? And could somebody even pretend that well? He looked really bad, thin and hollow. She looked as Thor gently put his brother over his shoulder again, one strong arm wrapped around the other's waist. He looked grave, his lips in a thin line as his thoughts went to some other place. He was worried sick. Thor disappeared upstairs for a while with Darcy to put Loki in bed and when he came back it looked as if a burden had fallen from his shoulders. Darcy did not come back, leaving Jane to think she probably tried that first-aid course on the younger god.

"I cannot thank you enough for trusting me again."

She tried to cheer him up with a warm smile.

"It's okay Thor. You were in need of help."

He nodded and sat down on one of the chairs. He looked really tired.

"Where can I find Banner? Darcy is right. We can trust him most…. For now." He looked upstairs to the door behind which he'd put his brother.

"Loki will be asleep for a while. Darcy said she would stay and see if she could do something. So it would be best if we went to retrieve him soon."

Jane patted his shoulder.

"I'll give Bruce a call. Grab a glass of water, some coffee, whichever. It looks like you had a rough night." She softly kissed his cheek. "And it looks like it will not be over yet so you should take this moment of rest."

"I- I know it is hard… To confide in me when you know what he has done to your people. But please take my word for now that that man was not Loki. Not the one I know, this one is. This is the brother I love Lady Jane, even I thought he was lost…"

"Sshh Thor… Later. I'll call Bruce. You just have a seat and drink something. Everything will be fine."

Selvig watched it from his place on the couch. One had to be a fool not to realise that Thor's pain was real. He just felt that it was hard to believe that there was another side to this devilish brother of his. But he was willing to experience it. If he would see it with his own eyes he might believe it. He got up and made the three of them coffee. He put a mug in Thor's hands, on the desk for Jane and then leaned against the stairs himself. Thor could read on his face that he was not in a mood to have a conversation. He was thinking. It was a mood he had seen Loki in quite often, and if he would decide to talk anyway he was often shut out rather bluntly. He smiled softly. He looked at Jane, beautiful, kind Jane. She was talking through one of those 'cell-phones' as he had heard them be called on occasions, fidgeting with a smiley-faced stress ball on her desk. But apart from her conversation that hardly consisted of more than 'mhm ' or 'of course' it was quiet. He sipped at the hot brew and heard the door of the bedroom open. He looked up to find Darcy leaning over the steel balustrade, looking down at them with asking eyes.

"Hey, Eric. Can you hand me a pair of scissors? I think cutting open his sleeve is better since it's all dirty…"

Eric slowly pushed himself off the stairs and walked to the drawers to fetch what Darcy had asked for. He held it out and she came down to swiftly take them from his hand. She didn't smile at him or anything, even she knew that was a bad move when Selvig's face looked like that. Silently she returned upstairs again, shutting the door behind her once more. Selvig let out a sigh.

"You know buddy… If all this starts to get explained, better make sure I have a beer in my hand. Because so far, I won't believe a word you say… There is no way that I can believe that the guy I met has any good in that head of his."

He thought he would just put it out there.

"Then a beer you shall have for it is truth."

Selvig smiled thinly and sat down again, pretending to be really busy with something on his computer, mumbling about Norse gods being crazy beings.

"Thor…" Jane said softly.

He turned his face to look at her.

"I called Bruce… but he's not really what you call close. I told him we have a bit of an emergency, but he said the best he could do was get here in 8 hours. There is no other flight or travel-plan that can get him here earlier."

Thor huffed and drank the rest of his drink, that would not do.

"Your Midgardian travel is too slow."

She shrugged and put the phone in her pocket.

"I can't change that… I didn't tell him that it was Loki… Just that it was an emergency we would require him for."

Thor grabbed Mjolnir and made to go outside again.

"Where can I find dr. Banner at the moment?"

"Oh, he said he was at a congress-meeting in Washington."

"Where is Washington? Is it a land?"

Jane shook her head and grabbed Selvig's computer from him. She went to type in a few things until a map appeared.

"Look, this little arrow that says A is us. Here we are. And arrow B is Washington. It's about 1850 miles east from here."

She moved a few things along and suddenly there was a white building on the screen.

"This is what it looks like, the congress-centre."

Thor nodded and took a good look. That would take him no more than fifteen minutes if he flew right away. 8 hours, Midgardians were so very primitive. He walked outside again.

"I will return quickly."

Jane ran after him, surprised to find Thor leaving.

"Wait, Thor! Where are you going?"

Thor shrugged, that was quite clear was it not? He swung Mjolnir, the sand stirring.

"I'm going to give Doctor Banner a lift."

He came off the ground and disappeared to the skies. Jane let out an amazed laugh before she waved after him and returned to the warmth of the facility.

Thor took the directions Jane had given him until he could make out that weird building. It was rather unique, it looked like nothing else in this city. He descended and landed on a lawn that was meticulously kept. He hadn't ever seen something like it. Not a strand of grass seemed longer than another, flowers were planted in neat rows. This building was important. He looked ahead. It looked quite a lot bigger now that he had arrived. He made his way towards the steps that led up to the doors. So many steps. But he could barely set a foot on the white stone before he was met by two suited men. Was he expected then? Or were these guards of some sorts?

"What do we think we are doing here sir?"

Such a stern and demanding tone. Definitely guards then. But where was their armour? They wore suits, black suits with black ties and then sunglasses. It was night? Why would these men need glasses to shield the light? And there were little plugs in their ear. How very strange.

"There is no need to see me as a threat. I am Thor of Asgard."

"We haven't heard that one before…" one of them snorted. "You could be the queen of England but you won't come in without an invitation."

"I am no queen you morons! I am a god!" Thor shouted insulted. "And I have never been to this England!"

"We really don't care. No invitation, no entry."

"But I must speak to dr. Banner!"

The men in suit looked almost identical. He could only tell them apart by their hair, one was almost platinum blonde where the other was dark, but they even had the same haircut. It was mildly creepy.

"Then you wait and call him later. Or does the god Thor not own a phone?"

They sounded so sarcastic.

"I do not. If I may not enter would you please at least fetch him, then I might forgive your poor treatment of me."

One of them was at the point of laughing now, but the other's face dropped.

"Jones… Jones, he really isn't kidding."

Jones's grin withered too and Thor thought he could almost see his eyes widen behind those glasses.

"You are Thor from the Avengers?"

"Who else would I be you dim-witted pigs?" Thor growled.

"I'm still not buying it." Jones crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Thor growled and gave the man his hammer.

"Hold it and tell me so again."

The second he let it slip him from his own fingers Jones just about fell forward with the weight. With a heavy clunk the hammer met the ground and however hard he tried Jones could not even do as much as drag it an inch. Not even when his face turned tomato-red from trying. He eventually gave up and stepped back, panting heavily.

"Doctor Banner, if you please." Thor growled.

"Yeah… one moment."

Jones left, leaving the blond guard behind to wait by Thor.

"So… eh, what are you up to here?" the guy asked awkwardly.

"I require the doctor's assistance."

"Ah… well…" silence again. "Could you sign my notepad, my son loves you."

Thor cracked a smile at the man.

"Of course my man."

He scribbled his name down and something like 'fight like a warrior.' Tony had told him people here on Midgard loved that.

"Thanks. And eh, sorry about this… You know, we get some uninvited idiots sometimes."

Thor nodded, but his focus was already with Jones that returned with Banner at his side. Banner was as he remembered him. That fidgety, nervous, little man. As they joined Thor and the blonde human Jones gestured his colleague to move along. They had a job to do. Bruce patiently waited for them to move out of range.

"This would have to do with miss Foster's emergency I presume?" he asked with a soft voice.

He was in suit too. Apparently there had been some party of sorts in there, one did not wear such a suit on a normal day. Even Thor knew that.

"You presume rightly. We require a doctor."

Bruce let out a quiet snicker.

"I trust you are aware that there are far more and far more capable doctors than me. Why would you come here?"

They started walking to the end of the street.

"Because we cannot trust such doctors with my brother."

Bruce winced.

"Your brother… You mean, the overlord complex brother?"

They stopped at a building with many floors. Banner guided Thor to a small room on the other end of the hall below. Two doors slid open and they stepped in. It was a tiny room, plain. There were only buttons there on the right wall. Buttons with numbers. Bruce pressed one such button and the doors closed again. There was a faint pull and then the room moved, upwards.

"Loki, yes." Thor would not agree with the term Banner used.

"The other guy gets really restless when he is mentioned. I don't know if seeing him will end so well." There was a soft ping in the chamber and the doors slid open again to reveal a narrow corridor with many, many doors.

"I swear to you that Loki is not a threat! Even your monster would know that if you saw him."

Banner grabbed some keys and chose a door with number 647.

"He is not my monster." Bruce interjected. "But… you are sure, that it will not come to…. Trouble?"

He did not cast a single look at Thor. He looked nervous, but then again, Thor found he always looked a little nervous.

"I am as sure as I know the sun will rise."

Banner nodded vacantly and grabbed a shaggy old bag from the drawer in his nightstand. He opened it and looked at whatever was inside.

"Will you help?"

Bruce let out a heavy sigh and stood straight again.

"Life is life… It's not my right to let it fade. Even if I have a quarrel with the person living it. But you must tell me now if helping your brother will lead to a repeat of the events of last year. Because I do not want that on my conscience."

Thor looked the man right in the eye.

"I swear it on my life and honour."

Banner nodded again and grabbed his coat from the hook next to the door. Thor vaguely wondered if Bruce lived here. It was so plain, so impersonal. There were no books or trinkets. Nothing to suggest a form of living here.

"This isn't my home… It's a hotel-room. It's only to stay temporary." Bruce answered his unasked question.

He quickly put his last things in a weekend-bag and swung it over his shoulder.

"What kind of problem does Loki have? Is he ill or injured? Both?"

They walked back to the small chamber at the end of the corridor. Bruce had left the keys in the door, someone else would find them soon enough.

"His arm is broken and there are claw-wounds in his same arm."

Bruce inclined his head, clearly not too fond of having to confront these things at the moment.

"How bad? The fracture." He hoped he even had the right supplies to treat such injuries. He had no plaster, but with a lot of blood there could be no plaster.

"The bones have met the air."

Bruce's lips formed a thin line. For any person he'd have felt sorry, the pain such a wound caused was horrible. But because it was this man, he felt a little voice in his mind say he deserved that. He pushed it away. He could not make such judgements until he had seen the guy for himself.

"Please bring us to the roof." Thor said as Bruce moved to push a button.

Banner gave him a confused glance but did what Thor asked. An awkward silence fell between them again. Bruce had many questions. Why was Thor so very certain that Loki wasn't murderous? Why were they on Earth and not home? How did Loki even come by such a violent injury.

"What happened?" that would cut all of it.

Besides, talking eased the other guy, who was stirring with all his confusion and questions.

"What do you mean?"

"To Loki. What changed?"

"Nothing changed, he became the person he has always been again."

Thor didn't seem to feel like discussing Loki or his motives with him.

"You may ask Loki about this. It is not my place to tell you about his life."

Asgardian moralities then. Bruce shrugged.

"Then I will do that."

Another ping announced their arrival at the top floor. To Thor it seemed not much had changed. This corridor also had many doors. It was as narrow as the other and the wood was the same. Only the flooring was of a darker grey rug and the walls were light-blue instead of the minty green he had seen of Banner's floor. They made a turn for a white painted door and a small staircase led them to the roof. Up there it was quiet and the wind was chilly. It swept through Thor's hair and he took a moment to orientate the way back to Jane.

"And now? Did you get a helicopter?" Bruce put on his coat and shrunk in on himself to shield himself from the wind.

Thor grinned and grabbed Mjolnir again.

"No my friend. We will travel the Aesir way."


	4. Chapter 4

**We have had the most terrible heat-wave here. I'm so sorry! But my laptop can't handle it. It just dies from overheating when it's that hot. So I typed this one in front of the AC and it sorta worked. Yay! **

**Thank you for the great critiques. If you have things you really want to know please ask, I will answer next time. **

**Chapter 4: Monsters.**

The fog faded slowly from Loki's mind, too slowly for his likes. He felt heavy and his thoughts were slow. He hears voices, distant and vague. They were yelling, but they were too far to hear what about. He groaned and tried to shift his body. It was heavy and his mind didn't seem to recall he actually had limbs in the first place. But he felt nothing holding him back, no restraints of any sorts. Which meant he was probably safe.

"Don't move… Please. Jane will go berserk on me if you bleed on her sheets."

That voice suddenly so near made him jerk his eyes open. Not that he saw a lot at first. It was dark, a few bulbs of light blurring his vision. He'd heard the young woman's voice mention a 'Jane.' That was Thor's lady Jane no doubt. So that's where he had brought him.

"Welcome back sunshine."

When his vision cleared she just hovered over him, Jane's friend… Darcy as he remembered correctly. She was grinning at him.

"Thor will be right back."

Back? Thor wasn't there? He looked at her again. She had wiped the grin of her face, probably also noticing that it was just a little creepy. She had turned it into a nervous smile as she sat down in the desk chair again, scribbling letters in some form of rows. He would ask what it was but he had other things to look at. He turned his face left to find his arm bare, the sleeve had been cut and the bandages wrapped off mostly. Someone had put some kitchen towels under it to staunch the bleeding. From the corner of his eye he saw Darcy look at him expectantly. Ah yes, he was ought to talk back.

"Where did Thor go?" he asked.

His voice cracked because his throat was too dry and his words were slow from his mind being so hazy. He pushed himself up with his good arm to sit straight and put a hand to his face, rubbing his eyes. Darcy put the pillow behind his back to lean on. She was a bit awkward around him, it must have played in the back of her mind that he had killed, or had let other people kill, hundreds. But she did not say a word on it.

"He went out to get Banner for you. To look after your….arm." she swallowed and turned her face away. "Look, I think biology is real cool and stuff but it's just… very gross."

She gestured at his wounds and instead walked to the other side of the bed, leaving it out of her sight. Loki grunted as his mind sought any recollection of a 'Banner.' He found none.

"Who?"

"The Hulk." Darcy said blatantly as she held out a glass of water.

Loki's face dropped before he turned it away to hide such panic. His knuckles turned white around the glass and as Darcy asked if he was okay he didn't answer. Why would Thor do that? Why would he bring the monster, the great green monster. What reason could there be that, that Thing would have to look at his wounds?

"Why?" he asked with a small voice as he simply could not wrap his mind around it.

"Bruce is a doctor…" Darcy shrugged, a bit surprised. "We figured we could at least trust him because, well because he knows you."

He snorted and took a few sips of water, staring blankly at the books in the bookcase in front of him.

Trust him because he knew him… he should distrust him because he knew him.

"Hey ummm…" Darcy started awkwardly, picking little bits of fuzz from her woollen sweater.

Loki turned his head, showing her he was listening.

"This whole, taking over the world thing, are you really like that?"

He shook his head, looking at the sheets, he was still a bit too groggy to focus his eyes properly on something. He just tried to ignore that feeling of air on his bones. He was a terrible conversation at the moment.

"Thor would not leave me here if I was."

His thoughts brought him back to the riot. He'd had a fair share of nightmares about something like it. But one deals with nightmares by knowing them untrue.

His nightmares had come true. The people of Asgard were on a very real head-hunt for him. People he had climbed trees with as a child or had fought alongside of in wars. He'd fled his home and his home hunted him like a criminal… Like a monster. He wondered now for the first time, should he have just stayed on Jotunheim? Would it have solved everything? To stay dead, to stay gone. It would have cost him Thor and his parents. But was this worth it? Not just for him, but for them? The hate people had for him, also hit them. What really did he bring home to them, other than pain?

"How, How did you get that?" Darcy shook him out of his thoughts.

She was looking at his left side but her eyes kept going to his face, reading his expression all the time.

"I had it coming."

His voice was a sneer. He was not in a mood to dive into those memories too. But Darcy frowned, clearly taken aback by the hostile way he spoke to her.

"Sorry."

"Let me tell you something… Nobody has such a thing coming… Whoever would do that to you is way out of line."

Loki stared at her. She clearly had never encountered Asgardian justice before. To find a thing like this 'unfair.' He had seen worse for crimes much less grave. True, the total count of torture which she knew nothing of was for Aesir standards unjustifiable too. But if it had been just the arm, he would have come off easy.

He was going to explain so to her, but outside he heard a thud and the flash of light accompanying it told him enough.

"That would be Thor." Darcy confirmed.

Loki nodded with a faint grimace.

"And the monster."

"Bruce isn't a monster." She said almost reprimanding. "He's a good guy. He just has this one part of him that bursts through every once in a while. That doesn't mean that it's all he is."

She took the glass now that it was empty.

"You would know." She said with a stern look.

Loki heard the door downstairs open and the far-away yelling he had kept hearing ceased. It had been downstairs. There was some more talking and then he heard feet against the steel steps of the chair. Thor's heavy tread was one of them. The door flew open with a bit more force than intended, but then again, that was how Thor opened doors period.

"Brother!"

Loki smiled at his brother's fond greeting, and suddenly he remembered again why this was completely worth it to have Thor back in his life again.

"I thought you would not wake until morning-light."

Banner shuffled in on the doorstep too, just showing behind Thor's huge back. He looked a little pale from his first travel in the Aesir way.

"Well, my magic has been reduced quite severely these past few months. So the effect of blue mist is less grave."

Behind Thor the doctor flinched at the sound of his voice. Memories were still quite fresh on this man's mind. It made Loki even more reluctant to just let him get in the same room. But he stayed silent as Bruce entered the room and walked to his left side, putting his bag down and giving him the most awkward smile that Loki had seen on a person. Like he much rather wanted to cry than smile. When Banner had tried his awkward smile he turned his eyes to the wound. He flinched at it and his expression turned into disgust.

"I don't even know if I have the right equipment for this…"

Thor stayed in the doorway and looked a while. When Banner didn't seem to get green he turned a bit.

"Is there anything else you require of me? Jane and Eric are demanding an explanation and I think we owe them such."

"Go, I'll be good here." Bruce mumbled, going into full doctor mode.

He lifted Loki's arm gently to see all around it and look for complications.

Loki gave Thor a nod too. He did not really like the idea quite yet. But Thor would only be a call of his name away and that eased him enough to relax. Darcy also found herself curious to hear the story so when the door closed it was just Loki and Banner. A silence between them that seemed suffocating. The doctor did not feel like speaking, he was looking at the damage without touching.

"You Asgardians have weird perception of the term allies to have them do that to you."

Loki turned his face to look at Banner. Thor had told him then? But Thor would not do that. He barely understood what was going on.

"What makes you think it was my allies?"

"I guessed. I always thought you looked a little…ill when you showed up at S.H.I.E.L.D. I had guessed by then that you had had a bit of history prior to that."

He shrugged and put Loki's arm back on the heap of kitchen-towels before taking out his bag.

"You looked really nervous too. When we captured you not maybe. But especially in Stuttgart. That show you put up there… It was nothing but trying to get a firmer hold on what you were doing."

Loki narrowed his eyes. How the hell did he even know that?

"Don't give me that look. It wasn't all that hard to see when you have done it before yourself. Getting a grip on the other guy made me over-compensate too."

Bruce smiled faintly, this one looked a bit more genuine. Then he opened the bag and grabbed one of the glass phials in it, shaking the liquid a bit.

"You Norse gods… how do you react to human medicine?"

He asked half in thought. Loki frowned weakly.

"I'd say normal… They knocked out Thor when he was on Earth but, he had been banished."

It wasn't like they were ever treated with human medicine. They only knew Aesir healing.

Bruce shrugged and grabbed a syringe from his bag to take a dose from the phial.

"We'll see then."

Loki froze as Bruce took out the needle from his bag. The fine steel just catching in the light of the lamps. It reminded him only of pain and damage.

"What does it do?"

Banner looked up at the sudden hostility in that voice. And oh that angry tone brought memories. It made his fingers tremor for one moment as the Hulk stirred in him. But when he saw Loki's face he found a whole new expression than back then. Fear. His eyes were wide, nostrils flared, jaw clenched. He was tensed in a position that had him ready to flee. Street cats, that's what he reminded Bruce off, just minus the hissing and growling.

"It's just an injection. For the pain."

He measured the dose and gave it to Loki. He knew his kind of afraid. Verifying its safety for himself would be enough. Loki took hold of the syringe and held it to the light. It did not look like a weapon. The needle wasn't that long and it looked like it was hard to hold when he would struggle. In the small basin there was the clear liquid Bruce had taken out of the phial earlier. He gave it back quite reluctantly. Trust was something he still needed to work on.

"Only for the pain. You have my word."

He held the good side of his elbow and found a good patch of skin before settling the needle in one of the veins. Loki groaned and tried to jerk his arm away. But Bruce would not let him, the grip hardened warningly before he injected the painkillers. Quickly and briefly the doctor looked up. Such fear was striking. He had not known the trickster god before. But he had judged him a very good pretender. Everything seemed to leave him unaffected. Who this was, Banner did not think he knew actually. He really did not. He put the syringe away after he had wiped off the little bead of blood that welled up from Loki's arm.

"You have a monster too… Don't you?" he asked.

It was rhetorical. He knew it. Loki's head snapped up when Banner said those words, but the other stared back calmly.

"Yours is not green, not huge. That is the whole problem, isn't it? Your monster looks exactly like you, so nobody sees that it's there, nobody understands that you are torn because they cannot see it. Not like they can see mine." He continued.

Loki just stared at Banner, eyes wide open. Banner knew what he was? But… no. He spoke of something else, something….deeper.

"Your monster… Craves greatness. Your monster feels mistreated. Your monster, wrecked New York. Not you. Just like my… monster… wrecked Harlem. We are not accountable for what's twisted inside. To think so is foolish. To think so will make the monster win."

Loki looked away.

"My monster…" Loki whispered, the words hanging in the air as if there was more he wanted to say.

Bruce carefully probed Loki's arm with his thumb to see if the sedatives had kicked in yet. Loki never seemed to notice.

"My monster… might not be green no." he looked at the tips of his fingers as they became blue slowly, the colour crawling up his arm like a hungry parasite. "Mine…. Mine is blue and cold as the winters Asgard and Midgard have not seen in ages."

Bruce looked as a melancholy echoed in Loki's voice that he only heard with depressed people. He saw the blue and frowned, letting Loki speak.

"The only thing is… Your monster is part of you. I am part of my monster. You were born the man and became the monster. I was born the monster and I pretend to be the man." The bitterness in Loki's voice made Bruce want to do something about it.

The blue got pushed back under by that faint pink of Loki's skin again. Banner remembered that Thor had told them that Loki had been adopted. He had always assumed that it had been from another family on Asgard. But suddenly he wondered how wrong he had been to think that.

"I for one… Think that is extraordinary. There are many men that are monsters too, that become monsters by the way they are… But I never saw a monster that strived to be a man. There should be more of you…"

Silence fell again and Bruce could tell from the way Loki's lips quivered in a faint smile that he was holding back tears. Of sadness or relief he could not tell quite so clearly.

"Where was your monster born?"

He decided he would no longer handle them as the same person. He knew how much he hated it when people did that to him.

Loki looked up once before casting his eyes elsewhere, on his wounds this time as Bruce let go of them to listen properly.

"Jotunheim. The realm of giants."

Bruce gave him a bit of a confused look.

"The frost giants of Jotunheim are wretched brutes. Jotunheim is a dark cold world, night or day cannot be discerned for no sun or moon shines through its blizzards. In fact, it is not the trolls or the dark elves that fill our stories. It's the monsters of Jotunheim that mothers tell their little Aesir spouse of. They are nothing more to our people than the pests of which the heroes of Asgard have slayed hundreds of thousands."

Bruce stayed silent and did not move. Loki didn't really seem to talk to him anymore. He was talking to himself mostly, lost in thoughts that really seemed to haunt him. It stayed silent now. And eventually Bruce moved to get some anti-septic and dabbed it on the wounds while the other stayed motionless. The silence was starting to become rather heavy after a while but Bruce really could not think of anything to bring up that would not make this worse. Downstairs voices started yelling again in muted tones. That was when Loki suddenly moved again and sighed, leaning his head back instead of staying in that huddled position.

"They're arguing over me." He stated disapprovingly. "People always do."

Banner looked up but actually noticed Loki was still not really talking to him, so he silently wrapped a bandage around the wounds after he'd finished up his cleaning.

"Because everything must be decided for me… If I were to speak for myself, then surely I would twist and manipulate everything until everything goes exactly in the direction I wanted it to go." He snorted sarcastically. "But if that were so…. Then why am I the one that always winds up getting hurt!"

After that one outburst he fell silent again and Banner gently tapped at the seam of his bag.

"You should take some rest. You're starting to become a bit… strange."

Loki snapped out of his thoughts then and looked at Bruce, quite embarrassed at letting himself sink that deep.

"You look haunted. I know the look. Focus on better things, or it will wreck you. Even you."

He put a pill on the night-stand and stood up.

"If it helps… I understand now. Just remember that people care."

He smiled to bring some comfort but it was hard to lift the corners of his mouth up as he got that expression of the other back. So torn and desperate.

"Sleep tight."

He gave Loki a nod and closed the door as he left, letting out a heavy sigh. He hoped he did not have to go back in there tonight. He doubted it was good for him. He no longer worried for losing control. Loki was not what he had been thinking, what had been easy to think. Loki was broken, shattered even. He was sure that Thor had been piecing some of that together again. But he was not done yet. And he would need help. A hand to help putting everything together again. He looked down the railing to find everyone quiet once again. All four of them sat on the couches around the coffee-table, albeit slightly tense. Before Bruce could set foot on the floor again Thor had jumped up already, his face practically having the question written across it.

"Your brother's wounds are fine." He could not say Loki was fine, it would be a lie. "I told him to get some sleep. He looked like he needed it."

He didn't want to drop the bomb on Thor, or maybe Thor already knew. He knew Loki best after all, he would have seen how bad it was. Thor nodded and sat back on the couch again. Banner grabbed a desk chair and sat down in that with a sigh of exhaustion.

"And how are things here. I sense some tension."

"How are things? I will tell you, I have to put up with the Norse god that brain-controlled me. And despite everything he is still believed over me."

"Eric… We just talked about this. We will tell him to stay away from you. But we can't just tell Thor to dump him elsewhere…" Jane sighed.

"Why not? I mean it's not like he is a murderous criminal. Oh wait…he is! He will manipulate all of us, betray all of us. And I might have agreed on this… But I swear to god if he gets too close I will use Darcy's taser."

Thor jumped up, face red with anger.

"If you dare attack him I will defend him!"

Jane rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. There we go again, she thought.

"Coffee, dr. Banner?"

"Yes please."

So this would take a while. He watched the three others become aggravated again as Jane just walked through the middle to get to the kitchen. She was clearly done with all the drama. She put on the coffee-maker and grabbed a biscuit to snack on while the machine made noises to produce the black brew. She watched with a shaking head as Thor started roaring about pride and honour and family. His Aesir oaths and standards finding no heed with Selvig.

"Guys! It's my taser! Nobody gets to use it but me!"

Jane grabbed the mug of fresh coffee and a slice of chocolate cake, figuring Banner would be hungry now anyway. She placed both on the desk and leaned against it.

"Look… It's not that I mind Loki staying here. I really believe Thor when he says that there is more to Loki than we all thought. And I believe the story he told us too, about what happened…"

She looked back when she heard a loud clang as Thor slammed his hand on, and almost through, the table.

"But I think it would be better for all of us, especially Eric if you took Thor and Loki with you tomorrow."

Banner ate a few bites of the chocolate cake, because he was indeed very hungry by now. When Jane dropped that message he snorted.

"Where would I take them? My apartment can really not handle two Norse gods. It can't handle one. There's simply no space for them."

Bruce fidgeted with the handle on his mug while he waited for his coffee to cool. He briefly looked at the scene. Darcy tried to be peacekeeper but was pretty much ran over by Thor as Selvig threw him a particularly nasty insult.

"Anywhere. But I would suggest a place that's at least Thor-proof. He can get a bit…destructive." Jane said when her eyes fell on the cracked table.

Bruce let out a faint chuckle at the understatement. The two men were now standing face to face, staring each other off with rage. Darcy had stopped trying to fix it and now sat on the couch with her hands under her chin, wiped out from trying to stop Thor the bulldozer. Selvig lost this standoff, flinching under Thor's gaze. He started walking away, retreating to his room.

"You're all idiots! All of you! Can you not see that this is exactly what he wants?"

Jane pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows.

"And you should probably go real soon." She added to her earlier point.

Bruce nodded slowly, still fidgeting and prying at the little ridges in the porcelain handle as he watched Thor settle down again and drop back on the couch like a sack of potatoes.

"Well… I do have one friend that lives quite large…"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The science of magic.

Loud as it had been when everyone was still awake, so quiet it was now. Only Thor and Bruce remained. Darcy had announced going to bed shortly after Selvig had left and Jane was sharing her room now that Loki was in hers. So they had wished the other two goodnight and left. There was a heavy silence between the two men. There was only the sound of Banner's fingertips drumming on the desk. He was watching Thor rom his desk-chair but didn't really feel like bringing anything up. What would he really talk about? He could not open his conversation with news the past year or so, Thor did not know all that much about Earth. In fact, Banner doubted that Thor knew what a Pope was. But Thor kept looking at him. Clearly he hoped for Banner to start talking, the blond god seemed to hate silence. The way Thor always spoke of his home, with halls and banquets and feasts, Bruce figured Thor hardly ever had silence around him. His life had to be filled with loudness and people. Those blue eyes shifted to him again before settling on the coffee-machine.

"We will be going tomorrow." Bruce eventually said.

The words hung in the silence before Thor furrowed his brow.

"You might want to catch some sleep… You gods do sleep right?"

Thor looked up to the rooms.

"Where are we going? I cannot leave Loki, he can't take that at the moment."

"Loki will be going with us but-"

"-No."

Banner frowned. Did Thor not just say he wanted Loki with him?

"Excuse me?"

He rolled back and forth in his desk-chair.

"Loki must not travel in this condition."

"He will have to…"

"I will not have it. Travelling to Midgard took its toll on him already I could see, he must take some rest, no travelling."

Banner did not really feel like arguing with a Norse god, especially not such a protective one. But he'd have to, staying was no option.

"Jane has asked me to take the two of you elsewhere. Tonight proved that staying here isn't too healthy on either of you either." He pointed at the damaged table. "I sent out a message to Tony. I am sure he will have seen it by morning. The man owns quite a deal of real estate. You two will be better off there and I can't stay here either."

Thor huffed. He did not want to be a bother to Jane and her friends.

"I will see how he is by morning."

It was good enough for Banner. He nodded and followed Thor's gaze to the doors upstairs.

"Say…" he started slowly. "What happened back home? Loki was mumbling on all sorts of things… not everything made a lot of sense."

"Many things… Too many to be good for any man."

"Why are you on Earth then? I mean. After we met I of course brushed up on some mythology and things. If I could believe the stories, our world would not be the most logical place to go to. Especially not with your brother's recent history here."

"We had to. We have business with man of iron."

Bruce frowned. Thor sure was cryptic in his explanations.

"What business?"

"All in due time… There is no use in explaining it to every person separately."

"Ah…so… I'll wait for it."

The silence crept back between them as both ran out of new things to speak of.

"I think I will indeed take my rest for now. If we indeed leave by morning I shall be well-rested. If there is anything, I will be with Loki."

Banner waved him off with a small smile, but Thor noticed his mind was elsewhere, perhaps trying to fill in blanks with whatever Loki had been telling him. Thor turned and made his way upstairs as silent as he could. He did not wish to wake any of the people asleep, it could disrupt the peace that had finally fallen over the building. The door to Jane's bedroom creaked mildly as he opened it. The bedside light was still on, casting a soft yellow glow on the walls and furniture. He found Loki's armour in a corner, neatly stacked in a way only Loki would care to put away his clothes. He looked at the bed to find Loki fast asleep. He was turned away from Thor, his back curled a bit because Loki always slept curled up on his side. He had fallen asleep in the undershirt of his armour and looked peaceful for once. Thor could not see any form of restlessness. When he walked to the other side of the bed he was glad he could confirm that Loki's face indeed was that of a man sleeping, not of a man haunted. His bandaged arm was stretched out, his fingers dangling off the end of the bed. Thor softly touched Loki's forehead and rubbed his thumb over the cool skin.

"Finally…" he sighed, relieved to find his brother in peace for once.

He smiled softly and brushed his fingers through Loki's hair once before he grabbed the remaining pillows on Loki's side. He also grabbed the spare blanket from the closet and made himself a spot on the floor, looking at Loki's back as he lay down and wrapped himself in the warm comfort of the blanket. He briefly thought of also removing his clothes and wrestled under the blankets to rid himself off it, all so he did not have to get out of his pit of pillows.

Eventually he had struggled himself out of the steel and leather and he rested his head in the pillows with a sigh. Loki never stirred, not once. Thor kept watching. He did not expect anything to happen, no not at all. He just felt safer like that, keeping an eye on his little brother to make sure nothing could happen.

In the end, Thor could not remember falling asleep. He just knew he had, because he woke up from slumbers again to the sound of birds chirping somewhere outside and cars driving by. He opened his eyes again and felt overwhelmed by the brightness of morning light that flooded the room. Nobody had thought of closing the curtains the night before. So now the whole room bathed in the pale light that originated from that window above the desk. His eyes moved from the windows to the bed. Loki was awake already, he sat a bit hunched over, his knees pulled up slightly and he was picking at a bit of dried blood on his right knee. His black hair was still messy from sleeping, he had not gotten out of bed yet. Thor didn't move from his spot, instead he wanted to linger in the quiet warmth of this moment. It felt light and careless for now. Loki was not tense for once, all his muscles were at rest, he was off guard, just picking at that little crust of dark red. His face was displaying of mild discomfort but also that very determined gaze of not stopping before he would get rid of that itchy bit of dried blood. Sometimes, Thor thought, they really didn't differ all that much from the Midgardians in their habits.

"It will heal better if you would just let it stay there." Thor mumbled, still not moving an inch.

Loki just shrugged. He didn't even flinch or startle a bit from the notice Thor was awake. He'd probably known the moment Thor opened his eyes.

"Once you start…" he grimaced as he tore off the last bit. "It is so hard to stop it."

He softly rubbed over the tender skin under it, still pink from just having healed. Thor chuckled at that and sat up against the bookcase, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He heard Loki get up and peeked quickly to see him get to the trash-can to rid of the little crust. He yawned and fell back on the bed again.

"How did you sleep?" Thor asked, hoping Loki's night had stayed as peaceful as it was before he had drifted off.

"Good enough."

"Good enough doesn't sound like good."

"I won't get to say 'good' as long as I still dream."

Loki sighed and sat up again, watching Thor's face change with worry.

"I'm not made of glass Thor…" he smiled.

"That does not mean you cannot shatter."

Loki frowned weakly and shuffled to the other end of the bed to get closer to Thor. He leaned forward and looked in Thor's eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Stop pitying me."

"You know I can't. You are my brother, of course I pity you."

Loki cast his eyes down before letting them return to Thor's.

"I am not-"

"Yes you are."

Loki sighed at Thor's stubbornness, but it made him smile as well.

"I do not want pity Thor…"

"That's your loss."

"Pity is for those that are unfortunate."

"What would you call yourself if not unfortunate?" Thor snorted.

"A fool."

The words lingered in the air. Loki kept Thor's gaze for a moment but then turned his face away with thinned lips.

"We cannot stay here. We need to leave today. I cannot keep losing time if I want to finish the Tesseract in time."

Thor frowned as Loki suddenly changed subject.

"Loki I was not-"

"I was done."

Thor sighed and shrugged.

"Fine… Jane had already said we should leave soon. Banner has contacted man of iron. He only had to wait for a reply."

Loki nodded.

"Good."

He sounded very content at least. There was a hesitant knock on the door.

"Are you guys awake?" Jane sounded from the other side.

"Yes. We are."

Thor sat up and tried to look a bit more awake. The door opened and Jane shuffled inside. She was hunched a little and kept putting her hair behind her ear with a nervous smile. She looked so awkward.

"Goodmorning." She said with a soft voice.

She tried to keep focused on Thor but her eyes kept shifting to Loki nervously. Apparently she felt a lot less easy when he was awake.

"I- I ummm brought you guys some clothes. If you want them. And there will be breakfast in a few minutes."

She put the stacks of clothes on the desk and went back to the door.

"So….. I guess I'll leave now." She pointed at the door. "Bye."

The door closed with a soft thud and the moment she was gone Loki let out a snort.

"So that is where you have laid your affections?"

"Do not mock her brother."

"She is no queen Thor."

"I know… I'm not with her anymore… not like that. But she is a dear friend and I still like her for the person she is."

"I meant nothing with it." Loki defended. "I just joked."

Thor nodded.

"Apology accepted."

He grabbed his own stack of clothing and started to switch his Aesir underclothes for the Midgardian ones. Like last time the clothes of Jane's last boyfriend fit just fine. As he wrestled to get into the t-shirt he already smelled the scents of eggs and coffee. It was a warm kind of familiarity to him and he smiled. Loki stopped half way dressing though, trying to make sense of the scent. Thor snorted at the way Loki's clothes fit him, or rather, how they did not fit him. The grey jeans just about fell from his hips and the black button-down hung off his frame rather poorly. Loki made a face at himself. He muttered under his breath in what Thor assumed to be a curse at the clothes, until the fabric shaped to Loki's body to fit him like they were his and his alone.

"That is one trick I would be invested in to learn." Thor said with surprise.

Loki looked up and grinned sheepishly.

"Tailors tend to get my sizes wrong quite often. Since I lack a 'warrior's' posture."

Loki decided he liked the Midgardians' casual clothing. It was comfortable enough now that it fit. The trousers took a little getting used to though, they felt so tight and un-flexible. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and saw Thor give him a look.

"What?"

"Can you travel? I will convince Jane and the others if you are not ready yet."

"I'm fine. The bone started to grow together already. And besides, I need to hurry. I cannot keep lingering. I lost two days to this nonsense already."

Thor sighed and rubbed at his face.

"Fine, if that is what you please. But promise you will eat well. I remember the banquet and you have barely eaten a slice of bread that evening. You cannot recover without sustenance."

"I promise. If you will stop babying me." Loki almost hissed it in his annoyance.

But the scent made his mouth water, keeping this promise would be no problem at all. His stomach was indeed rather empty and neglected.

"Good, the way Darcy makes eggs will leave you craving for tons of them."

Loki rolled his eyes but let Thor pull him along. As they left the room and Loki looked over the balustrade he found that everyone else had already seated themselves at the table. The smell was even more present now and it made Loki take a deep inhale. Their bare feet made hardly any sound on the stairs so it wasn't until Darcy turned around to put the last food down that they were noticed.

"Goodmorning."

The rest of the faces turned towards them. Jane patted on a chair next to her to invite Thor to come sit with her. Selvig paled and got up.

"I- I need to look up those satellite codes for today's research." He said for an excuse before he grabbed his plate and moved to the desk on the very far end of the building.

"Eric!" Darcy said disappointed.

But Loki was mostly happy that the scientist chose that way to deal with it. No calling him names, no confrontation, just evasion. And he liked that just fine. Still the young woman felt like she had to compensate for her friend's behaviour.

"So… I made this insanely huge breakfast because you look like one of the holocaust survivors and that's creepy."

Bruce snorted from behind his morning newspaper. Loki did not understand the word 'Holocaust' but given that it compared to his condition he assumed it to be something bad. He would look it up once, maybe. He gave her a thin smile and held her gaze as she grinned back warmly.

"Why do you treat me as a friend?"

He saw all eyes shift to him as he asked it, because he had failed to realize how small and insecure it had sounded. Because, he wanted friends, real friends. But if he would be betrayed he did not think he could take it at the moment.

"I just don't get it." He added.

Darcy's grin softened into a compassionate little smile.

"Well… Because, to me you are a bit like a street cat. Those really are no bad creatures, they are what they are because somebody maltreated them, because life is rough. If you just treat them different, they might come around."

"Yeah, or they'll lash at your throat and kill you in your sleep." Selvig said bitterly from his spot at the far desk.

"Eric!" Darcy shouted warningly.

"Why doesn't really matter. I just like you."

She said down.

"Our chairs don't actually bite you know?" she urged as Loki made no move to sit.

He took the hint and sat down on the chair that Selvig had abandoned a few moments earlier. Darcy slapped a few pancakes on a plate and then took another where she scooped eggs onto and two slices of bread.

"You are not getting up again before you finish that." Her voice was stern.

Banner snickered softly at the irony. He had not touched his own food yet, he wished to finish his reading first. Tony had sent him a cryptic little message in return. Something about making arrangements to be able to have guests, that he had to sit tight because he would get back to him.

Well, if Tony had set his mind on something he would wish the ones trying to change it good luck. Loki did as he was told and started eating. He noticed his bag laying around on the couch, opened, somebody had gone through it. His eyes shifted away again as he heard a chair pull away. Jane got up and went to retrieve something from her desk. It was one of his books. She had just taken the liberty to go about and snatch his book. Jane put it on the table with such little care that he cringed, that book was over an age old.

"Read it for me Thor?" she asked in a most sugar-sweet voice.

Thor turned his face, his mouth full so that he could not answer her at once.

"He cannot read it for you." Loki answered for him. "Thor's common elvish is rubbish. His ancient elvish… I do not think he can speak a single word of it."

Thor finally swallowed away his mouthful.

"That is untrue. I know how to speak 'yes' or 'no' in ancient elvish."

Loki snorted and Thor just shrugged.

"Why would I? It's named ancient elvish because no elf or man speaks it anymore."

"I speak it."

"Yes brother… But you spoke each language in the realm well before you knew how to wield a sword."

"I made other priorities… If that's what you mean."

"Well at least you could say 'I yield' in each possible language or dialect when you lost your fights."

Loki kicked Thor under the table.

"At least I learned how to fight my battles in the end, you on the other end never made it past the languages available to all of us from the all-tongue."

Thor huffed and sat back.

"Well fine, you had me there brother."

Jane smiled softly.

"What's in it?" she asked Loki this time.

"Spells."

"Spells? Like, you read that stuff out loud and Eric would have hair again?" Darcy asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I have hair!"

"You can't really call that hair Eric."

"That's not exactly what happens though." Loki said with a bit of a grin.

He did indeed love Darcy's food but he was already getting full, finishing all this would take him all day.

"Well, how then? I mean, scientifically it is quite a strange concept… Spells." Jane muttered over her own food.

"Why is it strange?"

"Hello… Manipulating the laws of nature and physics by speaking words." She waved her hand for emphasis. "It's not all that logical is it?"

"Because you assume wrongly. I could read the words, and you would just have to take my word for them to be correct, but still nothing would happen."

Thor smirked at Loki's half insulted demeanour. No matter what shape Loki was in, nobody would insult his magic.

"But then how does it work?"

"I doubt you'd understand…"

"Then break it down for us."

Jane was so… pushy. He decided that he found it a less charming trait of hers. Loki sighed and leaned back, his stomach plaguing him because he'd eaten too much already.

"Fine… at birth, each creature comes with a certain amount of a thing we know as Seiðr inside. Everyone, except you humans have it by birth."

"How do you get it? Where from?"

Loki narrowed his eyes. Would she just let him speak?

"Radiation." He answered shortly. "It manipulates a certain process in the body where it starts making this Seiðr, like a current through the body. Some creatures have more than others, depending how much radiation reaches the planet or realm where they come from. And there is always an individual difference too, due to fluctuations."

"What does it do?"

Loki thinned his lips and gave her a disapproving look.

"Will you keep interrupting me?"

"Sorry, sorry… keep going."

"Seiðr is a law of your nature… One you simply must still discover in a way. It is a quiet one, which on small levels causes many of the events that you cannot explain in your quantum physics yet."

Loki frowned for a moment, he did not know an awful lot of human science to elaborate on that.

"Creatures that possess Seiðr can manipulate it. When in raw ways it often comes out in the form of force, gusts of power. Simple hand-gestures can make for somewhat more intricate things, it can generate light, more focused beams of power. Spells are not necessarily the words to manipulate, they activate the proper places in the mind to bend Seiðr in a particular manner. The ancient elves were the first to experiment with this, that's why spells are always in their language. Just blankly reading would not help, you need the associations of the text, what the words mean. And you must deliberately let the Seiðr flow."

"That is really pretty cool." Darcy mumbled.

"And humans never have it?" Jane just tried to keep up making notes.

"Not by birth no, most times."

"But… there are humans that do? Have this Sei….Seiðr?"

"Oh yes, quite rarely. But there is one right here, sitting at the table."

People looked at each other. Loki settled his eyes on Banner.

"What else would make you change appearance just like that?"

Bruce gave Loki a long look.

"How?"

"Did you not experiment with radiation? That misuse of serum you had gave you a current of Seiðr. But since the human body is not built for it, you have these unfortunate effects from it."

The doctor kept staring.

"Can it be reversed?"

Nobody had really ever come close to explaining his condition. It had always been a 'sort of mutation from the radiation'. It was why he studied it so hard. But Loki and his people knew of this fifth law of nature. The missing link was it?

"No. Seiðr is an energy, it cannot be captured, measured, or removed. It travels through every fibre of your being. It's a ghosting thing, not even a substance. I'm afraid your other man is quite irreversible."

And then there was silence. Nobody spoke, there was just the clatter of plates and cutlery as Darcy cleared the table. Bruce considered it for a while.

"Then I guess the Hulk will have to behave…"


End file.
